Teacher union officials are all about the numbers ever since the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation-won Janus decision was handed down by the Supreme Court last June. While these officials scoff at the prospect that the decision would cause a decline in membership, they cannot wish away the losses that come from locals that disaffiliate.
In order to compete as a “union” with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA) implemented a “unified dues structure,” forcing teachers to join the national, state and local affiliate automatically. Recently 2 of their largest local affiliates have disaffiliated. Mike Antonucci has the story in the74million.org.
But some unions, particularly the National Education Association, face another threat that has the potential of causing much more financial pain.
If losing fee payers and a percentage of members is troublesome, how much worse is the loss of an entire local affiliate?